


An Unlikely Meeting

by DragonBeak



Category: Dragon Knights
Genre: Ficlet, Gen, One-Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-17
Updated: 2010-01-17
Packaged: 2017-10-06 09:03:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonBeak/pseuds/DragonBeak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before he joined the Dragon Tribe, Tetheus came upon an unlikely meeting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Unlikely Meeting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cairnsy](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Cairnsy).



Tetheus wasn't very fond of human meat.

He wasn't sure why it was, but its taste had never been appealing to him. Shydeman would only smirk and say it was because he was too scared to eat anything that was still screaming, hardly the example a big, tough, older brother demon should be making to his siblings. Tetheus would then promptly shut him up by either a hard knock to the head or a yank of his hair (And he was the skittish one? Honestly, it was as though he had two sisters).

Still, it was unsettling that some small part of Tetheus felt just that, fear. Fear of eating something that… well , screamed back at him. He couldn't understand it. He was a demon, and demons ate humans, just like they ate anything else that was living and moving. It was the natural order of things. He didn't feel afraid whenever he slaughtered a wolf or a bird…and it wasn't as though those animals didn't squeal or squirm as he crushed the life out of them…

But humans… there must have been more to it besides the screaming, since other animals were just as prone to making loud, whining noises as they sensed their deaths. Was it perhaps because they could talk? While he would like to think otherwise, there was a time or two when he'd hesitated to kill because of a whimpered plead. Shydeman would always deliver the finishing blow, before Tetheus could say anything, and would always give him a small sneer when he was doing it. Maybe it would be an oddity in himself that Tetheus would just have to deal with for the rest of his life.

Though, none of that mattered at the moment. When it came down to it, humans were food. Why the dragons felt the self-righteous need to defend them all the time was beyond Tetheus, but it didn't change anything. He was tired, starving, and separated from his siblings, all because those dragons had to come here to rage their battle.

The fact that he had even been tracking the villagers should have been a sign of his desperation. The Great War between some overly powerful demon lord and the Dragon Emperor had torn the land apart and left the world ravaged. All of his usual prey had either run away or died out entirely from the area. So it was just him and this small group of humans, and Tetheus was desperately hungry...

It seemed that they were trying to move towards the south, in the hopes that they could escape the battles that were raging just beyond the hillside. He started watching when they first began to pack their few remaining belongings into carriages, trying to decide which one would be the easiest to pick off. He'd overheard some of their conversations, from the sound of it they were heading to a city called Draqueen; there was supposed to be some sort of sanctuary there for any of the nearby villagers that needed refuge. Tetheus vaguely remembered some odd rumors about the city from older demons. They told him it the very nest of the Dragon Tribe; the buildings were infused with brilliant light and any demon who stepped foot within the city limits would be singed from the vast amounts of light magic.

Tetheus wasn't quite so sure he believed all of that… but nevertheless, he had a while before the villagers made it to Draqueen. He had also overheard that the trip should take about two weeks -- plenty of time to scrap one for food before he would be in danger of being blinded to death.

It didn't take too long to find a suitable mark. A younger boy, a bit odd in appearance, but that usually indicated some sort of illness or other physical weakness which would mean an easier catch. It also appeared that the boy didn't have any sort of family left, which meant a lower chance of him being missed... and searched for. Perhaps if Shydeman and Shyrendora were still with him, they could team up against a larger man, but… well, Tetheus didn't quite have that luxury anymore.

After a few days tracking the villagers down a woody path, Tetheus noticed that the strange boy seemed to be in charge of hunting and capturing animals for food whenever the villagers decided to set up camp for a night. It was actually rather strange that the villagers depended on this young boy to be their hunter, Tetheus reflected. He hadn't ever looked his way once and now he didn't notice him even though he was only about one good leap away. Oh well, they were far enough away from the camp -- so no one should hear him scream before Tetheus had his hands around his throat.

His back was turned, yes! Just one leap forward--

It was a second too late when Tetheus noticed the bent tree branch.

TWANG

Up, up, and then upside down, the sensation of suddenly being plucked from the ground and tossed up into the canopy of a tree was definitely not something Tetheus was used to. He also couldn't help the yell that escaped his mouth, and he was still a bit confused about what was going on… wait…

He looked…up to his foot, where the constricting sensation was present and saw a thick rope knotted around his ankle... a snare trap?

The boy had laid out a snare trap? And from a tree no less. Thinking about it, he had never seen one before.

Tetheus looked down. The boy was directly beneath him, but still too far away to reach with his claws. Well, snare trap or not, Tetheus had rather loudly announced his presence and now the boy was eyeing him with something akin to smugness.

Damn it... if only he wasn't so hungry and exhausted, he wouldn't be so easily held by this trap, let alone desperate enough to miss seeing it entirely. He snarled menacing instead… but the boy's reaction wasn't quite what he had hoped for.

BONK

And that was the sound of a giant stick contacting with Tetheus's head at a rather high velocity. It wasn't nearly enough to knock him out, but its abruptness resulted in a flinch... (no, there was no yelp).

"Was wondering when you'd finally show yourself.


End file.
